She stands abruptly.
Paces to the window.
Stares out at the grounds.
"Just a few more days," she says.
"Yes."
"And you haven't decided yet. Whether we're going through with it."
"No."
"When will you decide?"
"I don't know."
She turns to face me. "I think we should do a dress rehearsal. Run through the whole thing. Let me practice performing like it's real. Then you'll know if I'm ready. And maybe that will help you decide."
"A dress rehearsal."
"Yes. Today. Right now. Set it up like the showcase will be. And I'll perform. Show you I can do this. That I'm ready."
"Eden—"
"Please. I need to know if I can do it. And you need to see if you can actually go through with watching me do it. So, let's just—let's rehearse. All of it. Everything I'll have to do that night."
She's right.
I need to see if I can actually go through with this.
Need to know if I can stand there and watch sixty strangers see her submit.
Need to decide if power is worth more than keeping her to myself.
"Okay," I say. "We'll rehearse. Full run-through. But Eden?—"
"What?"
"If I can't do it. If watching you perform makes me want to murder everyone in the room?—"
"Then we'll figure something else out. Together. But we have to try first."
I set up the library to reflect the showcase environment.
Chairs arranged like an audience.
The camera running to simulate being watched.
Lights positioned to illuminate the performance space.
Eden watches me prepare with an expression I can't read.
When everything is ready, I sit in the audience section. "Whenever you're ready."
She takes a breath, then another.
Then she begins, and she's perfect.
